03/07/2019
On Saturday 22nd June, The Heart Shopping Centre in Walton-on-Thames attracted local families with an action-packed Family Fun Day as they raised money through the national One Great Day initiative which gives shopping centres the opportunity to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and a second charity local to the centre.
This was the first One Great Day event for The Heart which saw them team up with local and very established charity Princess Alice Hospice.
By good fortune, the sunshine came out for the activities which took place both inside the centre and on the main outdoor plaza. All activities were open to both children and adults for a small donation of £1-£2. These included; face painting, glitter tattoos, candy floss, balloon models, lucky dip ball pit, hook-a-duck, ten-pin bowling and giant chess. A tombola was also available with some fantastic prizes kindly donated by retailers within the centre including Accessorize, Waterstones’, Sainsbury’s and recently opened Australian hair salon Just Cuts. Toy Story 4’s star of the show, Buzz Lightyear also made an appearance to show his support.
Claire White, one of the event organisers commented: “The event was a great success and really brought the local community together to raise money for two fantastic causes. As this was our first One Great Day event at The Heart we set a donation budget of £500 but I am delighted to say that we raised a grand total of £902.68 which will be split evenly between Great Ormond Street and Princess Alice. We look forward to growing this next year.”
The Heart Shopping Centre offers over 45 retailers ranging from high street brands such as Next, H&M, River Island and New Look, as well as family-friendly restaurants including Nando’s, Wagamama and Carluccio’s. The centre also benefits from a 24-hour gym, public library, Ping Pong Parlour and 800 car parking spaces, In addition, the centre also hosts regular events from monthly farmers’ markets and vegan markets to Kids’ Club workshops - The next one taking place on Saturday 13th July in the main plaza. This event will be a free Circus Skills Workshop.
For more information about The Heart Shopping Centre please visit their website (heartshopping.co.uk) or, connect with them on social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) @HeartShopping.